George Frank Chlebak

George Frank Chlebak died peacefully in his sleep, Sunday, November 18, 2018, surrounded by his wife and close friends. George had a lifetime devoted to understanding and appreciating art in all its forms. Born February 29, 1936, a leap-year child, George attended Lake Forrest College (IL), where he met his wife, Marilynn. He later got his MA in painting and lithography from New Mexico Highlands University, followed by postgraduate study at the School of the Chicago Art Institute, before moving to Salina (KS) to teach art at Marymount College and later, at Kansas Wesleyan University. While in Salina, he helped organize and was a founding member of the Salina Arts Center. In 1983, he and Marilynn moved to Batesville, where he became Professor of Art at Arkansas College (now Lyon College). In 2013, the governor appointed him to a four-year term on the Arkansas Arts Council. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Marilynn; two sons, James (Marie-Christine) Chlebak, and John Vincent (Lesley) Chlebak; six grandchildren, Collin (Maddie) Chlebak, Lise Chlebak, Chase (Lauren) Chlebak, Nicolas Chlebak, Cal Chlebak, and Erin Chlebak; and four great-grandsons, Harvey, Sullivan, Miller and Hayes. Friends are invited, in lieu of a memorial service, to celebrate his life at the gallery opening of a retrospective exhibition featuring new paintings and old on December 8, at the BAAC gallery in Batesville.

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